Everything
by Kat Lee formerly Pirate Turner
Summary: Everything finally becomes clear when Clark visits Lex's grave after Failure and Roles. Clex Slash. Future fic.


Title: "Everything"  
Author: Pirate Turner  
Dedicated To: My inspirational beloved Jack, who kept asking me for this story until I was finally touched by my Muses at a time I could write  
Rating: PG-13  
Summary: Everything finally becomes clear when Clark visits Lex's grave after Failure and Roles.  
Warnings: Slash  
Disclaimer: Lex Luthor, Clark Kent, all other characters mentioned within, the Daily Planet, and Smallville are & TM DC comics and all other respective owners, none of which are the author, and are used without permission. Everything else is & TM the author. The author makes absolutely no profit off of this work of fan fiction, and no copyright infringement is intended.

He waited until all the others were safely gone, and then he left the seclusion of the darkened clouds and came down from the sky to land beside the grave of the man who had never ceased to haunt him ever since entering his life so many years ago. Those had been the days of the carefree and innocent, he thought as he leaned forward to place his tribute upon the cold grave, but even then, Lex had been neither. He had been mysterious, handsome, and self-assured with a power radiating from him the likes of which Clark had never tasted, and he had been drawn to him like a moth to a flame. Like the proverbial moth, he, too, had been burned.

His eyes flicked to the headstone as he straightened. It spoke of the power of the man, but there was nothing there depicting the softer sides Lex had once possessed, the parts of him Clark had fallen in love with, but then, he reminded himself, those parts -- the brave man who had ached to better the world and change his destiny as a Luthor; the loyal, steadfast friend; and the tender lover -- had been dead for years. Lex had hidden them away, placing them securely under lock and key, and Clark had never been able to find the right key to unlock them. Now he would never again have the chance for Lex was gone.

He would never again see him. He would never again fight him. He would never again hear him whisper, cry, beg, threaten, or laugh. He would never again see his breathtakingly beautiful blue eyes light with hope or the evil gleam that had filled his eyes for far too long. He would never again get the chance to tell him how he truly felt.

The rain began then, as Clark's eyes fell to the blood red roses that lay still upon the grave. A drop fell as he remembered the fateful night when he had first pulled away from Lex and lied to him, telling him he didn't love him not because he didn't but because he couldn't. He had told himself again and again throughout the miserable years that had followed all the reasons why he could not and must not, but yet he had never stopped loving him.

Another drop fell as he saw again the pain and sorrow that had filled Lex that night, the pain and misery that he had caused. The red petals of the roses blurred in his vision, flowing into a crimson river of blood, blood that Lex had shed at his hands and had caused to be shed, as he witnessed again the blood and the sorrow of every battle that had followed. Another drop fell with each recalled memory, and Clark finally admitted the truth to himself. He had never stopped loving Lex, but his denial of his feelings had driven his beloved to the darkness that had consumed him. He was the cause of him becoming the monster he had transformed into, and that was why he had never been able to permanently defeat him. He could not defeat him because he barely had the heart to fight against him, yet he had doomed him to becoming the very thing he had fought, the very man whose corrupted morals had kept them apart.

No, he hadn't kept them apart, Clark admitted as rain drops splattered his face. His own foolish pride had done that, his own refusal to accept the love that swelled within him and to tell Lex how he really felt, how he had always felt since that first night he had almost killed him. As memories continued to flash through his mind and the rain to fall in drops that continued to grow in size and force, Clark accepted the truth. Lex had never been to blame for what he had become or for keeping them apart; he had. He was the true monster.

A sob broke free as he remembered the phone calls and the begging that had taken place whenever they'd been completely alone. He'd had the key all along, but selfishly, stupidly, he had clung to his misplaced morals and let Lex go until he had slowly died. He could have saved himself, Clark knew. Lex had the money for the cure for the disease that had secretly eaten at him a thousand times over, but he had wanted to die. How many times had he begged him to either love him or kill him?

Lex had wanted to die, and his death, just like his transformation and their separation, was not to be blamed upon the sickness he'd allowed no one to know he had but upon Clark. He had driven him closer and closer to Death's door with every denial he had uttered, every time he'd hit him, every time he'd hurt him. Thunder roared, and the true rain finally began to fall.

His head hung as he stood in the pouring rain and recognized the drops of his tears for what they really were. Flashes of Lex's smile, his handsome face, and gentle touches ran through him, and he heard his words from the past again -- of al the times he'd told him he loved him, all the times he'd been there when Clark had needed him, all the accusations that now rang true, all the self-condemnations, and all the times he'd ever begged him just to love him when he already had rang throughout Clark's pounding mind. The facade of the Superman crumbled as Clark fell to his knees, sobbing and howling the misery that engulfed his every being into the rising winds. And then, after years of denying what could not be denied, after years of aching to say the words and never having the courage to do so, he screamed at the very top of his lungs, "I ALWAYS LOVED YOU, LEX!!!!!!!"

Then beyond the raging inferno of emotions pent up for far too long, Clark heard a quiet, familiar voice that shook with emotions of his own. "I know. I love you too!"

Clark raised his head, and pass the sheets of tears and rain, he saw a sight he'd never thought to see again. "L-L-L-Lex?" he choked out, his body shaking as much as his voice.

Lex nodded as he knelt beside his love and wrapped his arms around him. "Yes, my love! It's me. I -- I had to fake my death. It was the only way to reach you. I -- I was not at all certain that even that would, yet I had to try." His voice and his hands were shaking. Fear shone in his baby blues, and tears streaked down his face.

Clark cupped Lex's face in his own trembling hands. "Don't," he pleaded. "Don't ever cry again because of me please. I only want to love you and make you happy."

"You can do the latter," Lex replied, love and relief sparkling in his eyes, "by simply doing the first."

"Oh yes!" Clark cried, determined to put his fears behind them. "For now and forever!" He pressed his lips to his, and Lex's mouth eagerly opened beneath his own. Their tongues slipped into each other's heated mouths, twisting, turning, and ultimately melding into one perfect, passionate union. Their tears slipped into their kiss, mingling salt with fiery passion that burned both deliciously throughout their entire beings and an eternal love that could not and would not die.

When at last the demand for oxygen forced them apart, they lingered, kneeling on the wet ground, their foreheads pressed together and their mouths but a breath apart. Their eyes shone into each other's as they whispered in unison, "I love you!"

Clark pulled Lex into his arms and leapt into the sky with him. For Clark, it was Heaven on Earth just to hold Lex again. For Lex, it was a glorious feeling to safely leave the Earth behind and feel the air rushing pass them as they flew with no more effort than a bird, but what thrilled him far beyond anything he'd ever known was being held close in his beloved Clark's strong arms, hearing his heart beat pound a steady rhythm into his ear where his head rested, and, best of all, knowing he loved him and he'd never deny his feelings or their love again.

Clark's heart was soaring further than even he could fly. It burned with the need to scream his joy and shout his love from the highest rooftop, but rather than waste time flying to the tallest mountain, he chose another route, knowing full well that news covered the globe from there at an even quicker rate. Outside the Daily Planet, amid a chorus of yelling and a flurry of photography, Clark pulled Lex up and even closer and kissed him deeply with all the love and passion he'd ever felt for him alone. Shrill whistles caught his ears as he pulled slightly away after long minutes, and though he'd not thought it possible, Clark beamed even brighter at the congratulatory cheers pouring from Chloe and Jimmy while Lois stood beside them with her mouth wide open but nothing, for a rare change, coming out of it.

His friends were happy for him! They loved him and were happy because they knew he was finally truly happy! He still didn't know how the rest of the world would take the news that their hero loved a man, let alone one who had been a villain for far too long, but it no longer mattered. Lex's brilliant trickery had snapped Clark to the truth at last. He loved Lex. He always had, and he always would. The world needed a hero, and he would be that hero for them as long as they wanted him to be but never again at the condemnation of himself or the man he loved more than anything else in the whole wide world.

The sun had chased away the storm, much as their proclamation of love had chased away the darkness that had been building in Lex and Clark for so long. Clark squared his shoulders, raised his head, squeezed Lex gently as he held him more tightly to his chest, and flew away into the golden sunlight, eager to face the world and whatever it may offer as long as he had Lex and their love. Lex settled in for the journey, blissfully happy for the first time in his entire life, for though the world had thought him to have everything, only now did he have it and everything for him was Clark and their love.

**The End**


End file.
